Yellow (Ki), from the series "Five Colors (Goshiki no uchi)"

Also from the circa 1820 series Five Colors (Goshiki no uchi), Yellow (Ki) is one of the most chromatically distinctive of Shinsai's late [shikishiban](/glossary/shikishiban) [surimono](/glossary/surimono). The yellow theme would have organized both the subject of the print and the kyoka verses inscribed across it, the color carrying a network of associations—autumn rice harvests, certain robes of court rank, the chrysanthemum and rapeseed flowers—any of which the contributing poets might develop. Shinsai's design exemplifies how a series structured around abstract categories (colors, seasons, virtues) functioned within the surimono economy: each print was a self-contained object, but the series held together as a long-form commission for a kyoka club. The Art Institute of Chicago preserves the impression alongside the related Five Colors prints.